Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 17 November 2021.
Thank you very much. I don't think that I would disagree with what you've said in terms of the severe pressure on social services, and particularly in regard to children's services. I want to reassure you that my officials are currently working with local government to identify where those pressure points are and where additional funding in this financial year can be of use, bearing in mind that point you made about the number of children coming forward with referrals increasing, but also the complexity for all the reasons that we would understand in terms of the last couple of years that they've been through. So, that additional funding is already there this year, but I'm more than happy to look for more should it be required. Those discussions are ongoing at the moment.
And then of course, retaining staff within the social care sector is absolutely paramount. Clearly, they have had a really, really hard couple of years as well in terms of the work that they've been doing, supporting some of the most vulnerable people in society, and our commitment to pay the real living wage is a really important one, as are other ways to look at recognising and supporting social care workers. For example, they are sometimes asked to pay for some things that they need for their job; we need to look at that to see if there's more that we can be doing in those areas. The Minister for Health and Social Services and the Deputy Minister for Social Services meet every week now with the Welsh Local Government Association spokesperson and leader to explore what more we can be doing to support the social care sector.